8 Interesting Ways The Mind Works

The minds and the brains are the most powerful tools a human can possess. The more you understand the way they work, the better you can use them.

Here are 8 interesting ways your mind works:

1. Your Conscious Mind. Your conscious mind takes care of all your rational and logical thinking, whereas your subconscious mind takes care of well, everything else to be honest.

2. Consciousness. Scientists and philosophers often disagree as to the definition of consciousness. It’s a topic the great thinkers before our time and of our time, have tried to unravel. How does consciousness work, and where is it located, to put it in a nutshell, consciousness is self-awareness. An awareness of your thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment.

3. Subconscious vs Unconscious. You may have heard the words unconscious and subconscious used synonymously, which speaks to the fact that they are exactly the same, but that’s not quite right. If you are unconscious you are not awake, you lack awareness and will be unable to respond to stimuli, meanwhile, your subconscious never sleeps, it’s always awake, responds to all stimuli and is continually in control of your bodily functions.

4. Brain vs Mind. Brain and mind are also often used synonymously. However, the brain is a physical thing, we can see it, it can be touched (albeit by surgeons, scientists and the like) we know it’s there. We cannot see the mind, we cannot touch it, yet still…we know it’s there.

5. Your Power. Your subconscious mind is a powerhouse many times more powerful than your conscious mind. It can process huge quantities of information that come in via your 5 senses and translate them back to your brain in a matter of seconds, milliseconds actually.

6. Memories. Your subconscious mind is the part of your mind that stores memories and allows you to remember things like your birthday. In your conscious mind, you may not be thinking about your birthday, but if you ask yourself for it, your subconscious will shift it to the conscious level.

7. Your mind in Hypnosis. Studies show that our brains function differently in hypnosis compared to our normal waking state. Much like daydreaming, in hypnosis, your brain goes into a trance-like state (Theta) when you become less aware of (or rather pay less attention to) what's going on peripherally and can focus more on what's happening inside. Deep inside. To the inner you. That you that looks out from behind your eyes. In hypnosis you are somewhere between wake and sleep, highly focused, completely in control and able to respond to stimuli.

8. Change. The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus once said “change is the only constant in life.” We, humans, are able to change our minds constantly. What a wonderful gift. No other living creature (as far as we know) has the ability to change its mind or mindset. Of course animals have brains and minds, make decisions, and use all their senses (usually 5 but also 6 as in electroreception) but they can’t change “who they are” fundamentally. For that, you need to have a sense of self, and the ability to choose and we humans possess that.

We can choose to continue exactly as we are, or we can choose to change any aspect of ourselves. The way we think, the way we feel, how we look, and how we’re perceived by others. We can change the things we don’t like about ourselves and want to give up, learn and improve upon by changing the way we view ourselves and the world around us.

The human mind is phenomenal. Our minds and our brains are the most powerful tool a human can possess. Our minds and our brains need to be nurtured, fed and watered, exercised, and challenged, they need to be open to learning, open to change, experiences and adventures, to be curious and most of all, never taken for granted.